1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle body reinforcing structure for coping with a small overlap collision, and more particularly, to a vehicle body reinforcing structure for coping with a small overlap collision which makes it possible to enhance small overlap collision response performance by increasing a collision area and width against a small overlap barrier when a front small overlap collision occurs.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, a front vehicle body of a vehicle is a frame structure which is positioned at a front side in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle while forming an engine compartment, and includes a front end module which forms a front side of the engine compartment and accommodates a cooling module, a head lamp, etc., a front fender apron member which forms the left and right sides of the engine compartment and accommodates a suspension system and has a space in which wheels are installed, and a dash panel which is positioned at the rear of the engine compartment and partitions a passenger compartment and the engine compartment.
Also, below the engine compartment, front side members extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle are disposed at left and right sides, respectively, to reinforce the structural strength of the front vehicle body, and a sub-frame is disposed below the front side member so as to install and support the engine and a transmission at the engine compartment as well as a suspension system, etc.
At the front end of the front side member, a bumper beam extending in a width direction of the vehicle is installed so as to enhance the front collision response performance of the vehicle. The bumper beam is connected to the front end in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle of the front side member via a crash box.
In the case where the vehicle equipped with the front vehicle body collides head-on with an object (hereinafter referred to as a “small overlap collision barrier”) such as an obstacle or another vehicle in a small overlap way at an outer edge portion in the width direction of the vehicle while the vehicle is traveling, impact energy to the front side member is not effectively transferred because an overlap area or an overlap width between the front side member and the small overlap collision barrier is small.
Due to this, when the front side member does not perform an impact absorption function well, the absorption of impact energy and the transfer of the impact energy to another portion are not smoothly performed, such that excessive damage or breakdown may partially occur at the vehicle body, and the impact energy is excessively transferred to the passenger compartment, thereby threatening passenger's safety.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.